5/5/13

St. Kitts

Even though I was well aware of our Southern Caribbean itinerary, St. Kitts was one port-of-call I had no general knowledge about. It's like a blank page in my travel journal. No surprise here, the island is considered somewhat off the beaten track for most sun-seekers. Which actually sounds like a good thing. Our 10-hour visit to St. Kitts eventually opened my eyes to beautiful sights.
Back in 1493, Christopher Columbus claimed this volcanic island for Spain. It was originally called St. Christopher, sparking a debate whether the island was named after the explorer himself or after the known patron saint of travelers. Like any other Caribbean island, it was exploited by a succession of colonizers - from Spanish to French to British. English sailors later got their say on the island's current cute name.

Independence Square

Church of the Immaculate Conception interior

downtown Basseterre architecture

It was on this historical backdrop that our locally-booked Island Paradise Tours began as soon as our van left Port Zante pier in the capital city of Basseterre. Using a wireless microphone while driving, Rosevelt Taylor (guide/driver/owner), kept our group of 10 people revved up with his tidbits of history and trivia, even discussing the various flora and fauna in this ecologically-rich island.

Just 3 kms away is the more-sedate smaller island of Nevis. Together, this dual-island nation is officially called The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. Despite being independent from British rule since 1983, it still considers Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state given its status as a Commonwealth realm. So as it is, among the many British-isms still prevalent, driving on the left side of the road is the rule.

A local woman passes by one of the windowed basements (with mesh wire)
which used to house African slaves for sale to colonizers

We drove along Basseterre's narrow streets,past its historic center filled with old-time Caribbean architecture. Underneath these buildings, Rosevelt pointed at the basements which used to house slaves brought in from Africa. Colonizers in 17th century saw the need for slave labor as sugarcane plantations sprang all over the island. While slavery was eventually abolished by the Brits in 1834, plantations continued to operate until 2005 when they closed down due to unprofitability.

Giving a nod to the glory days of plantation life was our visit to Romney Manor, so named after a 17th century English Earl and once originally owned by Thomas Jefferson's ancestor. The original structure is now home to Caribelle Batik which as the name implies, especializes in the not-so-original Indonesian style of hand-printing. While the grounds are lush with flowers, plants and one enormous old tree, I found the ridiculously expensive batik on sale incongruous to the overall experience (my mom & sister meanwhile proudly wore their PHP 250 batik sarong from the Philippines which other women visitors asked about).

Romney Manor - home of Caribelle Batik

Batik-making thousands of miles away from Indonesia

Brimstone Hill Fortress

Brimstone Hill Fortress

Brimstone Hill Fortress

Up on a hill we drove to see the UNESCO World Heritage site of Brimstone Hill Fortress. Designed by British military engineers and built by African slave labor, the fortress was intermittently built between 1690 and 1790 with the aim of dispelling French attacks. Its fortified location is so well placed it was called the "Gibraltar of the West Indies". We walked around this complex of bastions and barracks, awed by its immensity, wowed by its surrounding beauty. From a distance we could see the isles of St. Eustasius and Saba.

As if the views up there weren't wonderful enough, Rosevelt drove us towards Timothy Hill. On an overlook, we had a commanding view of the southeastern section of the island, including that of neighboring Nevis. This was the part of St. Kitts at its narrowest - we could see the rough seas of the Atlantic coast on the left side and the calm waters of the Caribbean on the right side. It's obviously not difficult choosing which side of the coastline where we want to spend the rest of the day.

Timothy Hill viewpoint

Beach scene

Down on South Friar's Bay, Rosevelt brought us to the privately-owned Carambola Beach Club. There were other guests from Carnival Valor (we could always tell from the towels alone) and the other megaship docked that day. In other words, forget about seclusion. The water was calm and warm and best of all, instead of renting expensive beach umbrellas and loungers, we found a perfect spot shaded by palm trees. A mat I bought kept us in a picnic mode. With little else to do besides swimming, I decided to read my book. At this point I felt all I want sometimes in travel is just to . . . relax.

Three hours later, we met up with Rosevelt and the six others in our group. We made it back to the pier with still enough time to browse some gift shops and add something to my fridge magnet collection. St. Kitts may have sounded so unfamiliar to me before this trip but our 10-hour stay was a pleasant scratch in the surface of this 69 square-mile island. I hope to dig up a bit deeper someday.

10 comments:

I agree, Caribbean batik sounds cognitively dissonant to me, as batik has always been a Southeast Asian thing. It reminded me of my encounters with Chilean sushi, which surprisingly enough, one local I met in Valparaiso was so proud about, she even took us to lunch to try it out!

It just goes to show how ideas and concepts can turn global in its reach. People do get excited, crave and adapt to these things very easily. Now that you mentioned Valparaiso, I'm actually hoping not to miss it next time I visit Chile!

You know the architecture and feel of this Caribbean island is so similar to Belize, it's the British touch in them that made me feel like I've been here :). Just the architecture in the town, not the beach area.

It's difficult to absorb the pains suffered by African slaves even just by looking at where they used to be housed. It must be more painful too for the descendants having to look at them on a daily basis!